Valve-actuating rod for internal-combustion engines



" w. M. ANDERSQ DN VALVE ACTUATING ROD FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES v v Filed Oct. 28,- 1922 Q iii" in: 9 E 4 l f Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

VALVE-AGTUATING ROD FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed October 28, 1922. SerialNo. 597,505.

My present invention provides an extremely simple and highly efiicient adjustable valve-actuating rod for internal combustion engines and is in the nature of a modification of the invention disclosedu and broadly claimed in my pending application Serial Number 467,526, filed May 7, 1921, and entitled Valve-actuating rod for internal combustion engines.

The rod illustrated in the drawings of said prior application is automatically adjustable to take up play in the valve-actuating con nections and performs that function in the most efficient manner, but the rod of my present invention is of more simple'construction and, while not automatic, is capable of being very quickly and easily adjusted, at will, by manual operation. While the automatic rod more completely performs the adjusting function, nevertheless, there is a great demand for a more simple and cheaper rod than the automatic rod and my present invention meets this demand by extremely simple and efficient mechanism, making the adjustments easy to perform, whether the engine is in action or at rest.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate the invention in what I now believe to be its preferred form for manual adjustment like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section showing an upright internal combustion engine of the overhead valve type and showing one of my improvedvalve-actuating rods applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a view chiefly in axial section but with some parts in elevation, illustrating my invention as applied to the valve-actuating rod; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2'

Of the parts of the engine, it is desirable only for the purposes of this case to particularly note the cylinder casting 4:,the crank case 5, the cylinder head 6, the overhead valve 7 (either admission or exhaust valve), the rocker 8, the valve-actuating rodv 9 equipped at its lower end with a roller 10, and the cam shaft 11 operative on said rod 9 through engagement with the roller 10. If the rod 9 were of the ordinary construction,

the engine so far described would be of the ordinary construction, but said rod 9, in ac: cordance with my invention, is provided in its upper end with a long axial bore 12 that extends completely to the upper end thereof, and with long diametrically opposite longitudinal slots 13 that extend from points marked 13 down to points marked 13 on Fig. 2. The'bored upper end of said rod 9 is externally threaded and is screwed into an extension sleeve 14. The extension sleeve 14, at its lower end, has a downwardly flaring'internal conical clutch surface 15 and, preferably, tie exterior of the latter is marked or circumferentially graduated at 16, for a purpose which will presently appear. I

The upper end or head 17 of the valveactuating rod is provided with a depending stem '18 that works telescopically through the upper end of the adjusting sleeve 14: and into the bore 12 of the rod 9. The upper end of the sleeve 14 is formed with a striking shoulder or stop surface 19 that is engageable with a striking shoulder or stop surface 20 formed on the upper portion of the stem 18. The head 17 may be connected to the outer end of the cooperating rocker 8 in the customary way.

The main rod 9 is provided with a frictional clutch dog 21 that cooperates with the'internal conical surface 15 of the adjusting sleeve 14. and, as shown, said clutch dog 21 is formed from a flat steel plate of peculiar form. In this preferred arrangement, the said clutch dog 21 is cut or stamped toform at one end a fulcrum lug 22, clutchacting edges 23 and 241', and an outwardly and downwardly extended releasing arm 25. Also, as shown, the arm 25 has an upwardly projecting lug 26, for a purpose which will presently appear.

Located in the lowerportion of the bore 12 of the rod 9, seated on the bottom thereof, and pressing against the body of'the clutch dog 21 is a coiled clutcl1-setspring 27, and seated on said dog and engaging a shouldered lower end portion of the stem 18 is' another coiled spring 28. The spring 27 is of considerably greater tension than the spring 28, so that compression of the latter will not overcome the former nor release the all clutch dog from its frictional engagement with the conical surface 15.

In the use of this improved vglve-actuating rod, the adjusting sleeve 4 may be turned when and only when the arm 25 is pressed from its full line position, Fig. 2, to or toward its dotted line position, and when the friction clutch is thus released, said sleeve may then be turned to accomplish the proper adjustment. To get the proper ad'- justment, it wil usually be advisable first to extend the complete rod until there is no play between the valve-actuating connections, even when the engine is hot, and then to turn said sleeve back so as to leave the proper gap, say about ten one-thousandths of an inch, between the striking surfaces or shoulders 19 and 20 (see Fig. 2, wherein the size of said gap is exaggerated). The gap may thus be predetermined to approximately such extent as will be required to prevent unseating of the valve when the engine is cold.. ()f course,.the purpose of this predetermined gap is to compensate for the difference in expansion and contraction of the-cylinder casting and the valve-actuating'rods when the engine is hot and when it is cold, and said gap should be adjusted as small as permissible to avoid pounding of the valve in seating.

By reference to Fig. 2, it will be seen that under tension of the spring 27, the clutch' dog 21 will be rocked at the point of con tact of its fulcrum lug 22 with the lower edge of the conical portion of the sleeve 14, and its clutch-acting edges 23 and 24 will be forced against the conical surface 15 of said sleeve and thereby caused to act as a wedge to hold said sleeve from rotation in respect to the rod 9. The clutch dog, it will be noted, is free to shift and adjust itself to the above engagement, and in View of the conical form of the surface 15 and the wedging action produced, the clutch will be set under the action of the spring 27 so firmly that it will not be accidentally worked out of its set adjustment. To insure tight setting of the dog, the thumb may be pressed against the lug 26, but where the spring 27 is of the proper tension, such action will not be necessary, for the clutch dog will be instantly set when released from inward pres sure on its arm 25. The said arm 25 may be readily engaged while the engine is in action and the sleeve 14. can be readily rotated while the engine is in action. To facilitate its ready rotation, the sleeve 14 is shown as provided with a knurled external surface 29.

It will be noted that the stem 18 that carries the ball 17 is swiveled and, hence, that the ball is free to rotate on its vertical axis and automatically adjust itself so that worn spots on the ball will always engage with \x'orn spots on the socket. This is important, for wear will produce slightly flattened or worn surfaces on the ball socket, which, when thrown out of contact, will change the adjustment of the rod. With the ball free to rotate, it has been found in practice that it will automatically readjust itself as above stated and, hence, maintain the accu- "ate adjustment of the rod.

While I have described what I believe to be the preferred form of my invention, it

will, of course, be understood that I do not limit myself toithe specific described details thereof, since the same is capable of many modifications all within the scope of the in vention herein described and claimed.

What I claim is:

1. A valve-actuating rod comprising ex tensible members connected by threaded engagement, one of said members having a clutch surface, a dog extended diametrically into and projecting from the other of said members and co-operating with the clutch surface of the first noted member, and a spring applied in the member to which said dogis applied and operative on said dog to yieldingly press the same into engagement with said clutch surface and hold said members against relative rotation.

2. A valve-actuating rod comprising extensible members connected by threaded engagement, one thereof having an internal clutch surface and the other having a normally set manually releasable clutch dog cooperating with said clutch surface to normally hold said members against rotation.

3. A valve-actuating rod comprising extensible members connected by threaded engagement, one thereof having a clutch surface and the other having a normally set manually released clutch dog co-operating with said clutch surface to hold said members against rotation. in combination with a rod member telescoped into one of the first noted rod members and having a striking surface yieldingly spaced therefrom to afford a predetermined gap.

4. A valve-actuating rod comprising a main rod having at one end an axial bore and diametrically opposite slots, an adjusting sleeve working with threaded engage ment on said main rod and provided atone end with an internal clutch surface, a clutch dog working in the slots of said main rod and having clutch-acting edges engageable with the clutch surface of said adjusting sleeve. said dog having a releasing arm, and a spring in the bore of said main rod normally holding said clutch dog set against the conical clutch surface of said sleeve.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 in further combination with a stem telescoped into said sleeve and rod, and a spring seated in said rod and yieldingly pressing said stem outward, said stem and sleeve having co-operating striking surfaces affording a predetermined gap.

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6. The structure defined in claim 4 in which said clutch dog at the side opposite to its releasing arm has a "fulcrum lug engageable with the conical end of said sleeve.

7. The structure defined in claim a in combination with a stem telescoped into said sleeve and rod, and a spring seated in said rod and yieldingly pressing said stem 0utward, said stem and sleeve having co-operating striking surfaces affording a predetermined gap, and in which said dog at the side opposite to its releasing arm has a fulcrum lug engageable with the clutch surface of said sleeve.

In testimony whereof I atfix my signature.

WILLIAM M. ANDERSON. 

